Seeing science’s surprises

A few years ago, some of Jeff Nelsen’s friends gave him a live

lobster as a gift. Nelsen, who teaches the Science Discoveries Camp

in Newport Beach, named the animal “Lucky.”

Tuesday, Nelsen placed a handful of sea urchins in the classroom’s

water tank, planning to have students examine them under microscopes

the next day. Unfortunately for the class, Lucky was hungry that

night. By Wednesday morning, all that remained in the tank -- besides

Lucky -- was one live sea urchin and a few fragments of others.

“He turns the animal over and there’s no spine,” Nelsen explained.

“So he takes his front legs and pecks open the shell and eats. It’s

kind of a delicacy to them. It is to people in a sushi bar too.”

So the 6- to 12-year-olds in the class got an unexpected lesson in

marine biology: survival of the fittest.

“Mine is still moving a little,” said Briana Rappaport, 12, of

Laguna Beach, as she observed a wavering half of an urchin on her

plate glass.

Fortunately, urchin viewing was just one item of the curriculum

last week for the Science Discoveries Camp, held Monday through

Friday at Harbor Day School. Students also made crystals out of Epsom

salts and water; concocted “mystery matter” out of glue, water and

soap; and went digging on the beach for grunion eggs.

Nelsen, who used to work as a biologist for the Orange County

Marine Institute in Dana Point, established the Ocean Adventure

Program in Newport Beach in 1977. The offerings each summer include

an art camp, skateboarding and skim boarding, and a “minnows” science

camp for 5- to 7-year-olds.

The most elaborate is the Science Discoveries Camp, which includes

chemistry, physics, biology and earth sciences in its weeklong

program.

Much of the learning takes place in the classroom at Harbor Day

School -- a private school for kindergarten through eighth grade --

but the camp also makes daily trips to the beach.

July 25, the students found grunion eggs in the sand and brought

them back to the lab for examination.

“We were just digging, and we found these orange little eggs, and

we asked Jeff what they were,” said Jessie Bunting, 9, of Laguna

Beach. “There were a few water bottles that people had emptied, so we

filled them with sand and water and put the eggs inside.”

Under the microscope, the tiny eggs showed surprising signs of

life.

“You can sometimes see the heartbeat and the eyes,” Jessie said.

* SCHOOL’S OUT is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Michael Miller visits a summer camp within the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about the experience.